Our thoughts and prayers today are with the families of two police officers who were killed when a bomb exploded outside a girls’ school in a suburb of Manama on Tuesday morning. Another six were injured and Bahraini authorities are working flat out to bring those responsible for this senseless act to justice.
For the past four years, the kingdom has been jolted by political violence that has continued despite every reasonable attempt by authorities to resolve the grievances of the protesters. But the reality is that there are those who are determined to escalate their demands, deliberately using violence and unrest to undermine their political agenda. What is more, that agenda is being stoked and massaged by the meddling of Tehran in Bahrain’s internal affairs.
Tuesday’s bombing is not politics — it is terrorism, pure and simple. To those who believe otherwise, since when has the killing and maiming of policemen who are trying to maintain the rule of law, order and security become acceptable? This is a terrorist act. It is a deliberate attempt to kill as many people as possible. It was done with premeditation and forethought. And it was done with assistance and help from the outside. Bahraini authorities have already linked the explosives used to those of a cache recovered earlier in the week — similar in chemical makeup.
Where did that explosive come from?
The reality is that events and tensions in Bahrain are being fanned from Tehran. Iran has a long record of interference in matters on this side of the Gulf and meddling tentacles reach from Beirut to Baghdad, Sana’a to Syria. Bahrain has regularly — and rightly — admonished Iran and its representatives for their interference in what is an internal political issue.
Yesterday, Dr Anwar Bin Mohammad Gargash, the UAE’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, added the nation’s voice of condemnation to Tehran’s repeated attempts to stir sectarian strife in Bahrain. Rest assured, all of the Gulf states stand united behind the government of the Kingdom of Bahrain in ending any terrorist threat that emanates within the island — or elsewhere.
